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April 21, 2009

Andrew C. McCarthy on 'the real interrogation scandal'

In a must-read, Andrew McCarthy, who has "actually prosecuted terrorists and knows the nature of the enemy and how it studies our stories and adapts its tactics (HT - Hugh Hewitt)," writes that "The revelations will make al-Qaeda a more efficient killing machine: better able to resist our efforts to thwart its attacks....":

'Does it shock the conscience?" Chris Wallace, the Fox News Sunday anchor, pressed former CIA director Michael Hayden about waterboarding. General Hayden gave the only responsible answer that honesty would allow: "It depends on the circumstances."

Wallace's question came after the Obama administration's shockingly irresponsible decision to release government memoranda that spell out, in exquisite detail, the enhanced interrogation methods that were approved for top-tier al-Qaeda detainees in 2002-2003. Certainly President Obama is entitled to his rose-tinted opinion that more is to be gained by shelving the tactics than by further exploiting them. As chief executive, moreover, it is his prerogative to supplant a policy of proven effectiveness with one based on vague, counter-historical hopes of depressing terrorist recruitment. He could easily have altered the policy course, however, without giving a tactics seminar to our enemies.

The revelations will make al-Qaeda a more efficient killing machine: better able to resist our efforts to thwart its attacks. Worse, they will paralyze our intelligence community, which now knows that even a presidential assurance complemented by Justice Department guidance and congressional encouragement will not protect agents from second-guessing and possible legal jeopardy a few months or years from now, when vigilance is no longer in fashion and political power has changed hands. To complete the triple play, the disclosures demonstrate to intelligence agents that the commander-in-chief is not to be trusted: He claimed that coercive interrogation tactics beyond the anodyne Army Field Manual measures were being studied to determine whether their authorization might be appropriate; but the revelations make the "study" a hollow gesture -- there is nothing to be gained from authorizing tactics the enemy has already been armed against. (Emphasis mine)

Related: Cheney Calls for Release of Memos Showing Results of Interrogation Efforts ("One of the things that I find a little bit disturbing about this recent disclosure is they put out the legal memos, the memos that the CIA got from the Office of Legal Counsel, but they didn't put out the memos that showed the success of the effort," Mr Cheney said. ")

Posted by Hyscience at April 21, 2009 10:28 AM

• Andrew C. McCarthy on 'the real interrogation scandal' - Apr 21, 2009